Sorry folks no pictures this time but it was basically like the one above. After my unintentional month long hiatus from my 30 for 30 a salsa dancing lesson was a pretty difficult one to come back to. Not only was this an intimidating feat it also didn't play well to my natural abilities. To get a better idea of what I'm talking about there's an old family joke saying that I do Jack & Jumps not Jump & Jacks. I'm a terrible dancer and naturally overthink things. This made me nervous and it took a little liquid courage to jump in.
Seattle never ceases to amaze me at what kind of random things are going on around the city. This week there just so happened to be a drop in beginners salsa dancing class in Capitol Hill. Seeing how I wasn't doing anything productive on a Thursday night at 9pm I figured I'd go check it out. This is another one of my things that I went at alone. Fighting the parking on Cap Hill I ended up arriving about 10 minutes late. I walked into a huge ballroom with about 30 people all partnered up and dancing together. In the center of them was a woman in yoga clothes with a headset giving instructions.
I walked up to the in-house bar and ordered a shot of Jameson...at least I know I can do that right.
Once I was properly lubricated I started to observe the couples. I noticed one asian guy dancing by himself and thought oh great now I'm gonna be like that guy because I didn't bring a date. But after about 60 seconds or so everyone would switch to their left and start with a new partner. I asked a couple of guys standing out on the sidelines what to do. They explained you just jump in the middle of the line and you'll have a partner.
So I jumped in just as they were switching and started dancing with this kinda socially awkward girl. She didn't introduce herself and there's an odd amount of uncomfortable tension when you have to place your hands on a complete stranger. Keep in mind I'm about 10 minutes late into the lesson so they're at part 3 or so. I try my best to pickup steps 1 and 2 with no instructions. By the time I had figured out number 1 it was time to switch partners. This merry go round continued for another 5 or 6 steps until it was time to spin your partner.
It felt just like speed dating. You get to meet a new woman every minute and everyone is different levels of comfortable. Some would introduce themselves and others would just get right down to dancing. I'd break the ice with a be gentle its my first time joke and many were receptive and helpful. It's funny how some people can teach really well and others make it so damn difficult. I would be dancing great with one woman and then the very next one I'd screw it all up again. Eventually it started clicking. I really had to focus on the music and then the movement came more natural. Then again, maybe it was the whiskey kicking in.
I have to equate it to the same way I play music. Where I can play something by ear and keep pretty good timing. But if you give me sheet music and tell me to play using this and a 4/4 beat it all goes out the window. Once I stopped trying to count the pattern and instead just focused on the music it helped me keep my timing. Of course as soon as I was comfortable the lesson was over and here came the hard sell. This was just the $10 drop in class but the real thing was every week and if you act now you'll get $5 off the class! I didn't sign up for any additional classes but honestly the majority of the women were stunning and this seems like a great place to meet girls. That alone would make me give it another go. Stupid Capitol Hill parking & all.
Afterwards it was all freestyle dance and it seemed like attendance doubled. The dance floor was packed then suddenly there were a dozen tiny Hispanic men who owned the place. They were so good it didn't matter that they were 4 foot nothing. They commanded the attention and could dance with any woman in the house. I took a seat back at the bar and eventually met an older lady who was more patient with my two left feet. We danced to a couple songs then I called it a night.
Things I learned today:
Feel it and don't overthink it
Alcohol is a poor replacement for confidence
Dancing is similar to playing an instrument.
Instead of a guitar you're using your body.
Beautiful women like to dance & this is were you meet them
Practice makes permanent
No comments:
Post a Comment